Chapter 53 – Uncovering Secrets

“Woooow! Her house is bigger than grandpa’s gym!”

Phoebe’s home was indeed of an impressive size being an ancient castle which could double as a defensible strategic asset during war times and has probably been used as such in ancient times. The mansion rested comfortably underneath a solid stone foundation centered around a large field which was nowadays being used to practice battling. Having visited this place in the past hadn’t dampened my admiration for the old architectural design of the building. It wasn’t as large as some of the other buildings I’ve seen during my travels, but it was up there. The place had dozens of rooms for guests to stay at but was now only being occupied by Phoebe, her grandparents and the multitude of ghost types who are associated with the family.

“Keep focused! The ghosts that live with the family are experienced enough to disregard the protection my cleanse tag offers you. Have you ever been given an Alolan sunburn by a haunter?”

“No…”

“Good me neither. This is all just to get you mentally prepared. The ghost type Pokémon living here take advantage of the fact that we can’t fight back without setting the castle on fire. They likely won’t get physical with us, but the ghosts will interfere with our sleep by wailing into the night or rearranging the furniture inside our sleeping quarters.”

We finally made it to the front entrance. The wooden gate had a pair of old fashioned door knockers which I promptly used to announce our arrival and because the castle was mostly empty the acoustics helped carry the sound along. The door immediately opened but just by a smidgen with our prospective hosts nowhere in sight. No doubt the ghosts of this place were planning to play another prank on me.

“Oh! The door opened, let's go inside.”

“Don’t! This is obviously a water bucket prank. You push that door open and try to walk in, you'll get soaked with cold water.”

“Stop being so paranoid, Egon! I’ll show you!”

Flannery attempted to open the front gate but before she had a chance to do so I blocked her grasping hand. She gave me an offended glare before I properly demonstrated the dangers Phoebe’s home represented to all visitors. I had the perfect partner ready to help me spring this trap. I unclasped the sole white poké ball latched to my belt and released my psychic friend. She always takes powernaps after meals, but she’d forgive me for waking her up in this case.

“Go Tini!”

The sleepy rabbit materialized outside of her ball. Still groggy and slightly annoyed that I released her without a proper wake up call.

“Vi…?” “What is it?”

“Can you use your telekinesis to open up the gate for us?”

“…Vi.” “…Mkkkaay”

Tini sensing my intentions opened up both halves of the gate wide open and in the process a bucket filled with sawdust fell down on the floor right where Flannery would be standing if she had carelessly opened the door.

‘Hmm sawdust they’ve upped their game.’

“You know how dangerous that is!? Someone could’ve gotten a splinter in their eye!”

“Geng Geng!”

We couldn’t see the ghost but guessing by the sound it made I could make a fairly accurate guess as to which one of them was the one responsible for this prank.

Gengar was one of the family’s ancestral Pokémon. And by my estimation also the one who was responsible for being the first to encourage Phoebe in her pranking ways. This specter loved nothing more than to evoke laughter from the other occupants living inside the castle spending most of its time practicing his stand-up comedy routine. Manzai style sadly for Gengar no one in the mansion was sane enough to play a decent straight man. According to Phoebe his act had gotten fairly good over the centuries, too bad for Gengar only a handful of humans in the world could understand pokéspeak.

‘I am fairly certain this prank was only meant to hit intruders who would just waltz in without waiting for someone to answer the door. I can go easy on him this time.’

“Gengar try sticking with water next time it’s less of a health risk. Could you go see if Phoebe or one of her grandparents is available?”

Seeing as there was no need to keep up the ruse the ghost materialized from the gate’s shadow and gave us a wink before floating off to go get one of the castle’s living residents.

“What was that?!”

“See? You can avoid being a victim by staying vigilant. This type of awareness would be a boon to you when participating in a circuit run.”

As I was going through all the common hijinks these ghosts get up to, the castle’s mistress finally made her way to the front gate to receive us. Phoebe’s grandmother was in excellent shape for someone in her twilight years. Probably the result of having to climb up and down the mountain as part of her day job. Victini sensing her arrival stuffed herself inside my backpack.

“Little Egon! How good of you to come visit Phoebe told me all about what the two of you got up to during her little venture into Unova. Oh! And you brought back our dear little Chingling.”

“Ling! Ling!”

“We found Chingling some ways down the mountain and I figured she must have somehow gotten lost. I didn’t know this one belonged with you.”

“As you know my husband and I each own a Chimecho. This little one is the fruit of their love.”

Chingling over the course of our conversation hopped down off my head and ran into the castle probably intent on rejoining its parents. It was at this moment that the elderly lady noticed Flannery standing right behind me.

“Oh! And who is this vibrant young lady?”

“Hello Ma’am! My name is Flannery Moore from the Lavaridge gym. I am accompanying Egon here on his journey.”

“Moore? You must be Tim’s granddaughter! The last time I saw him he couldn’t stop raving about you! Come inside I’ll make the both of you some hot coco.”

Very much unlike the ghosts living with them, I found Phoebe’s grandparents to be very warm and hospitable. Their only major character flaw was not disciplining their Pokémon to not harass their guests. I’d imagine that loads more people would come visit this historical site if it weren’t for their Pokémon having free reign to prank their guests. Usually just sticking close to either the grandfather or grandmother kept you safe enough from the castle’s other inhabitants; too bad you couldn’t follow them into their bedrooms at night.

As we followed the enigmatic lady inside Flannery couldn’t help but shout Oooh’s and Aaah’s out now and again. The interior was kept in pristine condition by the various Pokémon living here with no spiderwebs or a lick of dust in sight and the hallways were also decorated with a great collection of art depicting the family’s historical figures, great battles and league champions of the past. Basically Phoebe’s family was filled with noteworthy figures. Her parents were still out there on some great spiritual journey or the like. Leaving Phoebe to be raised by her grandparents which was kind of the norm for trainer families living around these parts.

We were eventually led onto the same engawa overlooking the castle’s training grounds. Both grandparents made it a habit to overlook their granddaughter’s training sessions and offered up the family’s Pokémon for sparring matches. She motioned for the both of us to sit down while excusing herself to get us refreshments. Phoebe was coincidentally still in a training session when we arrived working on some new moves with Yamask while facing off against a hauntingly familiar looking Misdreavus.

This was an appropriate place to release my team members. A wide open space where there is almost zero chance of them scorching the wooden castle by accident.

“Come on out everyone!”

My team materialized close to the porch, their bellies filled with lunch eager to just bask in the sun. The sudden flash of light did catch Phoebe’s attention earning us a quick glance before she continued her training session.

“My… what a unique looking Litwick. In all my years I’ve never seen one quite like that one. Its flame’s coloring is slightly off and those glowing green eyes.”

“Yeah, the staff working at the celestial tower were all excited. Even Unova’s elite four Shauntal made the trip over to come see him. Strangely enough, no one I’ve met in Hoenn makes a big fuss about seeing him for the first time.”

“That’s because your average person living here has never seen a regular Litwick before. Make sure to look after him properly. Poachers and thieves wouldn’t mind snatching him up if you made it easy for them.”

My team, curious of their new surroundings, were eager to explore the castle grounds. Being a responsible trainer, I made sure to remind them to behave while we were staying under another’s roof.

“Okay guys we’ll be staying here for a couple of weeks. Numsy is familiar with the castle’s residents so if you have any questions, you can always ask him. Stick together if you wander off on your own the ghost types living here may take one of their pranks too far.”

The word castle seemed to set off the youngest member of the team. Halo’s eyes were shining with glee as she took in her surroundings. In all likelihood the little bug type was already planning to claim dominion over this place and start her regency over the archipelago of Hoenn.

“No bad! This is Phoebe’s home. If you want your own castle, you’ll have to save up money just like everybody else.”

“Vess!”

“She doesn’t think it’s possible to save up enough to afford something like this.”

“Yes, you could. I’ve heard that a league champion’s salary is quite lucrative not to even mention all the money they make from sponsorship deals. Just be patient, you’ll get there eventually.”

I took my agitated bug type and placed her on top of my lap gently stroking her white fuzzy mane in an attempt to calm her down. I was quietly amazed at her growing size. It wouldn't be long from now until she had outgrown the size of my lap.

“I’ll tell you what. Once you’ve grown big enough, I’ll schedule some practice matches for you with some of the gyms on my visiting list. Those gym trainer battles pay out decently and you will get to keep all of the winnings.”

“Vess…”

It was at this point that Phoebe’s grandmother came back carrying with her two cups of coco and an assortment of cookies and candied fruit peels to enjoy them with.

“My… is this little one feeling down?”

“Thank you for your hospitality, Mrs. Fuchigami. Yes, this one has only recently hatched and aspires to have her own castle one day just like her mother.”

“That’s a stellar dream! I am sure she will manage to do it in the future. There are many obstacles to owning a home like this. The upkeep costs alone are significant and that’s with all our Pokémon pitching in to help out.”

If you spot this narrative on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.

“Vess Larr!”

“If mother can do it so, can I!”

“Even your mother has issues in that regard. Most of relic castle is buried in sand not even mentioning all the wild ground types who keep digging holes in the ceilings and floors. If you do manage to get a castle, I’ll bet it’ll be much tidier under your supervision.”

“Vess!”

Hearing us talk about a foreign castle seemed to have garnered the elderly lady’s interest in the subject.

“The place you and our Phoebe went to during her stint in Unova?”

“Yeah… She also managed to catch her Yamask there. Her expertise on ghost types really saved the expedition. The native Unovan mediums and channelers are only obliged to help out during emergencies.”

“A sensible policy. Unless the ghost types living inside the ruin turn completely feral it is best to leave such places alone. Still… you managed to convince my granddaughter to disregard common sense and fly twelve hours over to a foreign country.”

“I guess so…?”

“She’s too old for you. You have my permission to try again once you turn sixteen.”

“WHAT!?”

It wasn’t me that acted flabbergasted at this granny’s innuendo. Flannery who has been contently sipping from her hot coco and casually listening in on our conversation almost lost control of her cup splashing a sizeable amount of its contents on her attire.

“I didn’t invite her with the intention of cultivating a romantic relationship. The professor I was traveling with noted the expedition’s lack of ghost specialists and I figured why not ask my friend who is an expert on such matters. Besides, she has always wanted to expand her team’s depth by including some foreign species.”

‘If this granny thought she could catch me flat footed by making outrageous claims, she has another thing coming.’

While Phoebe’s grandmother and I were busy having a stare off. The sounds of Pokémon moves being rehearsed in the training yard quieted down. Signifying that Phoebe would soon be joining us. The change in atmosphere was enough for the two of us to cancel our standoff and we pulled our focus back to the surroundings. The elderly lady eventually noted Flannery’s state of dress and beckoned the young girl to follow her along so she could switch attires somewhere more private.

Tini took this chance to do away with her hiding spot joining the rest of my team who were enjoying the sun’s rays while lazily strewn about on the porch.

“Do you like Phoebe?”

‘Sure, she’s a great friend to have. Who else would allow us to stay over for weeks on end in her family’s private castle without compensation?’

“I didn’t mean it like that!”

‘I know, and no I don’t like her that way. My past experiences make me immune to the charms of teenage girls. I am attracted to ladies with a more mature appeal coincidentally this ten-year-old body makes this entire topic of conversation a moot point. For now, my focus is on training Pokémon. We can revisit this topic once I am out of puberty’s cruel clutches.’

Phoebe walked up to us with her Yamask following closely behind her. The little ghost type seemingly tired from the training session he has just been put through.

“Heya Egon you finally made it! And not a single woodchip on you. I guess you learned a thing or two from your previous stays here.”

“So, you knew about Gengar’s plan… just make sure his pranks stay harmless, okay? Can’t have visiting guests be pierced by sharp edged splinters.

“Gengar is old school; he doesn't keep up with more modern pranks. I’ll convince him to join our monthly think tank so he can come up with some safer ones.”

I was a tad doubtful but if there was any chance that Gengar’s pranks could be downgraded to the level of whoopie cushions or stink bombs I’d be content. I quickly glazed over my concerns to discuss my future stay here.

“Just like we agreed, me and my team will be staying here for at least the following two weeks. After that I need to leave for a gym battle appointment in Fortree city.”

“Great! Now that you have your own team, I can have my Pokémon battle yours during our sessions. I can’t wait to discover how strong Victini is!”

“Ahem yeah… We sort of figured that out with Mr. Moore. She regularly manages to knock out Pokémon that are on his personal team. Ghost types are on average a bit on the frail side…”

“Don’t underestimate my team Egon! This is perfect for us if my Pokémon manage to beat Victini we’ll be sure to take Moore’s spot on the elite four when I qualify to make a personal challenge.”

“Vi Vi!” “I don’t want to battle Yamask, he's our friend!”

I decided to share Victini’s concerns about battling other Pokémon.

“At the start Victini accidentally overdid it with several Pokémon looking for a friendly spar. Now she only wants to battle Pokémon strong enough to at least be able to take a single move of hers.”

“My Dusclops is the toughest around!”

“You still haven’t found an appropriate size reaper cloth to match his figure?”

“I am working on it! Grandpa says he finally found a seamstress confident enough to work the material.”

“I guess we could give it a try but…”

“But what?”

“I want you to help me train Orin in exchange. He’s been having trouble performing at the same level as some of my older teammates. Learning a thing or two from a ghost type specialist like yourself will surely help boost his confidence.”

Having heard his name being mentioned drew the little ghost type’s attention. We had already planned out beforehand on how to convince Phoebe to personally train him. If trading favors didn’t work out, I instructed him to play the cuteness angle.

“Lit Lit!”

Orin hopped off the porch and in short order gave Phoebe a full body leg embrace. Quietly fake crying to keep her attention.

“Awww, of course I’ll help out! Don’t you worry cutie, by the end of these two weeks you’ll be just as strong as any of Egon’s team members.”

“By the way Phoebe, have you told your grandparents about Victini yet? Living inside this place for two weeks means they are bound to find out about her eventually.”

“I didn’t! Not yet anyway… can I tell them now? My grandpa’s a huge history buff. He’ll be so excited to meet a Pokémon only recorded in myths.”

“Maybe after dinner…? just make sure to let them know that we are still keeping Victini’s existence on the down low. Otherwise, they might feel inclined to tell the other old people inside their circles of confidence.”

Halo was starting to puff herself up in annoyance. This was one of the rare times that she wasn’t the center of attention. To ease her concerns, I started feeding her some of those candied fruit peels Phoebe’s grandmother left behind as well as giving her some statutory head pats. When Halo was on my lap her expectations to be lauded with attention was what made her extra adorable.

“Let’s start right away! Victini against my Dusclops. I’ll be demonstrating a few moves Litwick will be learning while training under my supervision!”

“You up for a quick battle Tini?”

“Vi!” “Okay! Just let me have some of those fruit peels first!”

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10 minutes later*

Both me and Phoebe eventually ended up standing on opposite ends away from one another on the castle’s training grounds. After Victini finished nabbing what remained of the fruit peels we got dragged off by an overly excited Phoebe eager to compare the difference in power between a regular Pokémon and a mythical one. Her Dusclops was already out of its ball ready and waiting for an upcoming battle. The beckoning Pokémon was one of the scarier looking members of her team with its blood red singular vacant eye. The species was completely incapable of making any sort of facial expressions making it hard to judge its moods or intent putting any opponent on the backfoot right from the start.

“Are you ready Egon?”

“Ready as we’ll ever be. Bring it!”

“Shadow Punch!”

“Flame Charge!”

Seeing as both me and Victini were telepathically linked there was actually no need to issue verbal commands, but I still did so for the benefit of our onlookers. Raven and Halo both still needed to get used to my style of battling.

Dusclops upon hearing its trainer’s command quickly formed an ethereal fist that sped towards Victini’s position. Knowing that shadow punch was one of those moves that would follow and connect with its target no matter what, Victini and I agreed that pushing through the attack was our best option. Strangely enough, sharing mind spaces made it easier to share intention with one another without having to explain details to the other party.

Victini darted forward wreathed in white hot flames colliding with the imaginary first heading her way. Even though its effectiveness as a ghost type move was beyond a reasonable doubt Victini managed to shrug off the damage with little effort and kept moving forward at the same speed hitting Dusclops with a fiery head bash. Normally this would KO any regular Pokémon but Dusclops while clearly suffering from the move persisted ready to take on more beatings.

“Fire Punch!”

“Phantom Force!”

Dusclops wasn’t quite fast enough to slip into the shadows resulting in Victini’s tiny clawed paw pummeling him. Unlike what her small physique might suggest, Victini's punches packed quite a wallop capable of crushing large boulders with ease. Still at this point most half trained Pokémon would be down on the ground passed out. That Phoebe’s dusclops was still standing albeit with some difficulty was praiseworthy.

Dusclops took this opportunity to create more distance between itself and Victini before disappearing into a mass of shadows.

‘He’ll come up when we least expect it in the meantime, we’ll get even stronger.’

“Work Up!”

Steam started wafting out of Victini’s large ears as the Pokémon enhanced her physical and mental abilities. I was sure with Victini’s power enhanced even further that the following exchange of moves would be the last one. It was at that point that Phoebe surprised the both of us.

“Pain Split!”

Forgoing the chance at coming out of Victini’s own shadow to assault her physically. Phoebe and Dusclops opted to use another strategy. Dusclops materialized at a distance behind Victini and Phoebe quickly took this chance to turn the tables on us. Pain Split was an insidious move that acted more like a curse forcing its target to share half of the user’s wounds and fatigue. Victini who was perfectly hale was quickly becoming exhausted while Dusclops on the other hand who was struggling and one blow away from being floored started looking much better. I couldn’t allow Phoebe to set the tone for the battle like this so we decided to quickly and decisively end the match.

“Psychic!”

“Protect!”

Before Victini got hold of Dusclops form the ghost type enveloped itself in a translucent shield that however didn’t stop Victini from trying to break through this protective bubble. Instead of enveloping Dusclops’ form she did so with the shield bouncing the ball up and down like a basketball. Dusclops was still protected but would probably be disoriented for a short while after the bubble’s protection faded. Eventually the normal type energy empowering Dusclop’s protective bubble faded unveiling the wobbly looking ghost type.

“Dusc…lops.”

I needed no more confirmation and quickly decided to end the battle before Dusclops could slip away a third time.

“Flamethrower!”

“Come on Dusky! Use shadow sneak!”

Astoundingly Dusclops managed to snap out of its mental haze and quickly following its trainer’s command slipped back into the shadows. The flamethrower which was headed it’s way landed with a bang on the open field generating a small explosion. Producing a copious amount of slag that rocketed off in every direction. Not caring overly much about the collateral damage we were already prepared for Dusclops’ retaliatory strike. Shadow Sneak wasn’t a move where the user slipped into the surrounding shadows. The move involved a ghost type extending its own shadow to fling itself behind the intended target which had to be done in quick succession. So, both me and Tini weren’t surprised when Dusclops reappeared behind her to deliver a quick blow.

“Stored Power!”

This was a move Victini had learned on her own. It grew more powerful the more augmented the user’s body became during the battle and since Victini was still steaming from the work up I’d figure it would be powerful enough to finish off the fatigued Dusclops. We opted to use this move over others because stored power acted like a small scale psychic energy explosion centered around the user. This way Victini wouldn’t have to turn around to immediately retaliate against Dusclops’ attack.

Violet energies exploded outwards centered around Victini’s small frame. Dusclops who was in close proximity to her received the full brunt of the attack but refused to go down before he got his own licks in weakly punching Victini before slumping down in defeat.

“Dusclops can no longer continue to battle; the winners are Egon and Victini!”

Before me and Victini could make use of this rare opportunity to gloat. A girly excited voice coming from the porch where the rest of my team was watching boldly declared our victory. Flannery was back together with Phoebe’s grandmother and grandfather wearing a new clean shirt. I was expecting the grandmother to make it back in time to witness our battle but somehow we made enough noise to lure her husband to come out and watch as well.

Before we had a chance to explain ourselves Phoebe recalled dusclops and walked up to me with a determined expression on her face.

“Before you have to leave me and my team will beat you! So be prepared to accept challenges from me every day from now until then!”

“Vi Vi!” “Bring it on! Dusclops is strong. I want to battle him again!”

Victini’s candid admittance of her Dusclops’ strength seemed to have put the teenage girl in a better mood. It wasn’t everyday that a mythological Pokémon praised her team’s power.

“That’s so sweet of you to say Victini! We’ll be sure to give you an even tougher challenge the next time.”

Victini was also roughed up from the battle but nothing a few oran berries and some grooming couldn’t fix. The three of us returned back to porch where my team was waiting for me. The younger ones being starry eyed at Victini’s capabilities and were sure to fawn over her. While my older team members acted like this was the norm for a Pokémon who was on the same team as them. Victini mixed back in the group pridefully boasting to the more impressed members of my team while Phoebe and myself had to face her grandparents' inquisitiveness. The grandfather was first to speak up.

“That was a great battle between you and my granddaughter. We are quite curious though; in my long life I’ve never laid eyes upon such a unique Pokémon.”

Phoebe was the one who spoke up first keeping to our agreement that she would ease her parents into the secret that is Victini.

“Egon managed to find Victini while on his journey in Unova. She’s a super rare Pokémon from myths and legends!”

‘That’s not how you ease others into shocking revelations!’